Haiti

Years of political turmoil and election delays, and a lack of political will, have hindered Haiti’s ability to meet the basic needs of its people and resolve longstanding human rights problems. A new president and legislature finally took office in 2017. A cholera epidemic surged after a devastating hurricane hit southwestern Haiti in October 2016 and has now killed more than 9,000 people. A 2013 court ruling in Dominican Republic retroactively removed citizenship from perhaps tens of thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent, many of whom have since been deported, together with Haitian migrants, back to Haiti where they live in poor humanitarian conditions. Haiti’s prison system remains severely overcrowded. Illiteracy and poor education, gender-based violence, and the use of child domestic workers remain major human rights concerns.